Hatching a Plan: The Program Helping Ecopreneurs Save the World

By Man of Many - Sponsored

Updated: 5 August, 2026

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Readtime: 6 min

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We’re all familiar with entrepreneurs, but there’s an exciting new generation of these ambitious innovators who are committed to having a positive impact on the world under an evolution of this title: ecopreneur.

Pairing ecological pursuits with financial profitability, these individuals and teams are tackling a broad range of challenges present in conservation, biodiversity, sustainable design, circular economies, renewables, food waste, and more. From creating edible coffee cups made from oats and barley to using Japanese planting methods to grow tiny forests that make a very real impact, the breadth of innovation and imagination out there is staggering.

However, realising these lofty goals isn’t easy. Launching a company that’s profitable can be difficult enough without also ensuring it’s a net positive for the environment. That’s why the Taronga Conservation Society Australia and LG Electronics Australia have joined forces for the Hatch: Taronga Accelerator Program, a leading conservation and sustainability launchpad designed to empower these ecopreneurs to transform their visions into reality.

Where Conservation Meets Innovation

Since its founding, Hatch has racked up some impressive figures, supporting 29 initiatives, providing AUD$488,000 in funding, and seeing 72 per cent of its alumni initiatives still operating (compared to the startup industry average of just 45 per cent at five years).

Meeting with Garrick Transell, Program Coordinator for Hatch, and Gemma Lemieux, National Marketing Director for LG Electronics Australia, at Taronga Zoo in Sydney, their enthusiasm for the program is infectious.

“Our work with Hatch is an example of how we work to give back to the community,” Gemma enthuses. “Since 2024, we’ve invested over AUD$1.2 million in the program to really accelerate it.” This includes LG’s formal partnership with the Taronga Foundation as well as a significant investment to support the amplification of Hatch and its participating startups.

According to Garrick, this additional investment from LG has been instrumental in reaching new audiences and solidifying Hatch as a world-class accelerator program that helps startups get off the ground every year.

“The Hatch program originally started in 2020 as a green grant, where we just tried to support startups to grow,” he reveals. ”But we thought there might be a better way to help support ecopreneurs, because they need more than just funding. They need support, mentoring, and connections across many industries, so the program has evolved to do a better job of all of that.”

In its current form, the 14-week program supports a selection of startups annually, whose teams enrol in weekly two-hour online Masterclasses run by industry experts, teaching key skills like business modelling, pitching, and marketing. Teams are also invited to participate in two Immersive weekends at Taronga Zoo in Sydney, where they can workshop their central idea with a dedicated team mentor.

Each startup also receives AUD$2,000 of equity-free seed funding, as well as an LG ‘Life’s Good’ product pack to the value of AUD$3,000. Plus, they receive the opportunity to meet investors and founders, and learn about the different funding models available to them.

Finally, each Hatch program culminates with a pitch night, where teams have the chance to present to a live audience in the hope of securing the AUD$50,000 Grand Prize, the AUD$5,000 People’s Choice Award, or the AUD$5,000 LG Life’s Good Prize.

Rise of the Ecopreneur

For 2026, the Grand Prize winner was GreenPay, an Australian-owned payments platform designed to help businesses redirect fees tied to payments away from big banks or offshore fintechs and towards investing in Australia’s natural infrastructure.

It’s the perfect example of technological innovation meeting environmental conscience. According to Garrick, the rise of initiatives like GreenPay is down to a collision of concern and ambition.

“I think the recent rise in ecopreneurs comes from an innate drive within innovators to do something purposeful that does good for the planet,” he says. “The environment has become more of a front-of-mind issue with extreme weather events right on our doorstep and the loss of species at an unprecedented rate. That growing concern mixed with the innovators’ desire to have a positive impact is resulting in these startups.”

While the motivation is widely shared, it manifests in an astonishingly broad range of ways. While GreenPay’s founders went the digital route, others take a more analogue approach. As an example of this and to demonstrate the sheer breadth of the projects that take advantage of the Hatch program, Garrick recalls another one of his favourite startups from the 2026 cohort.

“This year, one of our initiatives was Ludis, which recycles tennis balls and turns them into shoe soles,” he says. “In Australia alone, around 10 million tennis balls wind up in landfills every year. So we had a mentor named Laurie Minto, who helped set up Australia’s container recycling scheme. He has deep knowledge of recycling in Australia and was able to help Ludis’ founder, Lili, connect with the broader recycling world, unlocking that expertise. That illustrates the kind of support Hatch can offer.”

The Future is Eco-Aware

According to Gemma, all of this means Hatch is pointing to a future where business is synonymous with environmental awareness: “In the next five years, we see ecopreneurship heading where business and purpose work hand in hand. There’s no separation, and it just becomes business as usual.”

We certainly appear to be heading in that direction, in no small part thanks to LG’s determined backing of founders through funding, knowledge sharing, visibility, and an undeniable commitment to innovation.

As Garrick concludes, “I think Hatch is changing the way we approach conservation and innovation in quite a profound sense. With LG’s help, we support innovators at a ground level and explore how the innovation at each startup’s core can make lasting and impactful change.”